


sweet and salty

by kyeoesc



Series: Nyctophilia [1]
Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, For the most part, Hongjoong-centric, Light Angst, Literature Student Seonghwa, M/M, Music Student Hongjoong, One Shot, Pets, Roommates Seongjoong, Slice of Life, late night adventures, light fluff, there is kith, theyre just vibin tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-28
Updated: 2020-09-28
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:53:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26692504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kyeoesc/pseuds/kyeoesc
Summary: Hongjoong is feeling a little eccentric, and Seonghwa just wants to be a protagonist.
Relationships: Kim Hongjoong/Park Seonghwa
Series: Nyctophilia [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1979506
Comments: 4
Kudos: 65





	sweet and salty

**[Spotify:](https://open.spotify.com/track/0kn2gu8Pd03DiYHzRvX2Xk?si=b2WyCUbyS1y7xdrRKxoXww) ** _**[ Wish You Were Sober - Conan Gray](https://open.spotify.com/track/0kn2gu8Pd03DiYHzRvX2Xk?si=b2WyCUbyS1y7xdrRKxoXww) ** _

Hongjoong bursted into Seonghwa’s bedroom, hugging a box dye and conditioner packs in his arms. “Park Seonghwa, do you have an old towel I can use? One you don’t mind getting stains on.”

“Do you really think I have something like that?” Seonghwa nagged, his eyebrows already frowning at the other. Hongjoong proceeded towards Seonghwa’s dresser anyway, throwing the hair products on the floor and rummaging through his spare items shelf, knowing exactly where to look. “I’ve been Marie Kondo-ing around lately. If the item no longer provides you happiness, then throw it away. Old worn out towels? Does not provide me happiness. Now quit messing through my drawers.”

“Oh come on, Hwa, help me out here,” Hongjoong whined, closing that drawer and opening the one above it, showing perfect lines of t-shirts. They were no longer in perfect lines once Hongjoong touched them, unfolding each one to see which t-shirt it was. “Maybe a t-shirt?”

“Why don’t you use something from that stack of laundry that you haven’t folded?” Hwa piped bitterly, watching as the younger hazardously mess up all his efforts to keep his room clean. He was in peace, in his room, listening to his music while reading a good book. Now it’s all gone, thanks to Kim Hongjoong. Not that Seonghwa minded _that_ much; Hongjoong’s a good friend, a good listener and good company. But their spaces were divided for a reason, and this was only part of it. While Seonghwa enjoyed slower, quieter music that won’t distract him reading and studying, Hongjoong enjoyed louder, more animated music, and often experimented as well; of course, as a Composition major, it was inescapable, but Seonghwa wished Hongjoong would use his headphones more often. The walls between them helped. 

Hongjoong turned to the Literature major with a pout. “But my spare clothes are for when I wanna make something new.” Kim Hongjoong often called himself a fashion enthusiast, but Seonghwa insisted that he should consider fashion freak instead. His current frizzy blond hair was a result from his previous sudden decision to bleach his hair and dye it orange turned into months of abandonment due to his busy schedule between classes and part time job at the campus radio. He often wore clothes of his own creations, always lingering between high fashion and a Michaels’ shipwreck. Even the dark blue thrift store sweater he was sporting now had studs embedded on its hood; “I don’t want to wear what the next H&M worshipper is wearing,” he said once. 

Seonghwa finally sighed and put his book down, realizing that he can’t just shoo the boy out of the room at this point. He shoved the hair products into the boy’s arms and turned him around, pushed him out towards his own room. The apartment was small; the entrance led to a kitchen that barely fit both of them at the same time, then continued on to a living room just enough for a small table where they eat and a TV stand with a small computer monitor as an excuse of a TV on top of it, the PS4 working as their cable. The living room led to their rooms, separated by the shared bathroom; three doors total. Two windows looked out of their apartment, the sun at a constant orange in the late June, but now had rested and left the sky a dark blue with scattered white clouds. Seonghwa let Hongjoong stand in the corner of his room before rummaging through Hongjoong’s own mess of a closet; nothing hung properly, just a typhoon of clothes. He finally pulled out a towel that Hongjoong hadn’t seen in months.

“Perfect!” Hongjoong’s face brightened. As Seonghwa was about to leave the room, Hongjoong tugged on Seonghwa’s sleeve, lower lip jutted out into a pout. Seonghwa squinted in disgust. “Help me dye my hair?”

Hongjoong was humming along to the playlist that he had started blasting on the TV/monitor as both of them were facing their bathroom mirror. Hongjoong was sitting on a chair that they had placed on top of scrap papers from their previous semester, lined on the floor. Seonghwa was behind him, both hands in latex gloves, one holding a plastic brush that was provided in the box, the other holding a butter knife, using it to patch blue dye on Hongjoong’s hair. He had no idea what he was doing, but Hongjoong wasn’t complaining.

“You really wanted to get this done today? Now?” 

“Carpe diem! Seize the day! I thought _you_ were the lit major.” Hongjoong emphasized his words by waving his arms around.

“Not every lit major makes decisions on short notice,” Seonghwa told, sighing. They chattered on, complained about life, gossipping about mutual friends, pretending like all of it was a big joke between them, as if none of it really mattered. A few more hours passed before Hongjoong washed his hair out, blow drying it while Seonghwa brushed his teeth, ready to go to bed. 

“You going to sleep?” Hongjoong asked in surprise. Seonghwa raised an eyebrow and nodded. Hongjoong paused the blow dryer and looked at Seonghwa through the mirror. “I really wanna do some grocery shopping right now. Can you drive me?”

“It’s like, midnight Joong, can’t it wait till morning?” Seonghwa sighed.

“But Walmart isn’t half as fun when it’s packed with people,” Hongjoong exclaimed. “Come on, I feel like showing off my new blue.”

Seonghwa rolled his eyes, but later found himself at the driver’s side of the 1997 Toyota Camry that he bought off Facebook Marketplace, engine sputtery but still going. Hongjoong plugged his phone into the aux cord and continued blasting his loud music, singing along throughout the whole eight minute drive, and still humming to the song as they exited the car at the parking of the almost-empty Walmart. They weren’t the only ones who would go grocery shopping in the early AMs, dying to find things to do in their sleepless nights. The tar below them were warm beneath their feet, having absorbed heat during the day, their clothes sticking to their skins from the sweat. Hongjoong had ditched his sweater in the car, skipping to the entrance in torn jeans and a white t-shirt. Seonghwa followed behind him, his light blue t-shirt falling over his broad shoulders loosely, sweatpants under it. Indoors Hongjoong pulled a trolley, then jumped inside, instructing Seonghwa to push him. 

“How about I get inside and you drive me around this time?” Seonghwa suggested in annoyance. “I’m already literally driving you around.”

“Okay, sounds fun,” Hongjoong replied, jumping out, unphased when the trolley spun away behind him. Seonghwa was surprised; Hongjoong usually only wanted to do things his way, and the taller hadn’t ridden in a trolley since he was in middle school. He put one of his long legs in, hoping the trolley won’t give when he got on, and it didn’t. Seonghwa curled his legs, watching the world around him from a toddler’s perspective as Hongjoong pushed the trolley behind him, murmuring to himself “Oranges, orange oranges, aha!” 

Seonghwa gave comments on Hongjoong’s selections as they went on, laughing as Hongjoong put on funny hats on his head and purposely threw in the wrong things when Seonghwa asked for something. _Hongjoong was right_ , Seonghwa thought to himself. Walmart trips aren’t usually half as fun as this, when they can do anything without the repercussion of others giving them the stink eye. They weren’t committing a crime, but they were being immensely juvenile. It was almost four in the morning when they finally checked out their items, many unnecessary, but they got them anyway.

“Can we go watch the sunrise somewhere?” Hongjoong asked, scanning his items at his self checkout counter. Seonghwa was doing the same at the counter next to his. 

“You wanna go to the lake?” Seonghwa suggested.

“Sounds good.”

“It’s about an hour drive though. I don’t know if we can make it.”

“Then there’s no time to lose.”

“We need gas.”

“Then we get gas.”

“Is there any way to say no to you?”

Hongjoong turned towards Seonghwa, who was still focused on scanning his items. “You know you wanna go see it too.”

Seonghwa looked up, grinning. “Maybe.” He scanned his last item; a bottle of salted caramel mocha.

The sky outside was dark and blank; the cloud had been blown away, and the light pollution too strong, not allowing a single star to make an appearance. It was a short drive to the gas station, the one they've always went to. Hongjoong got out of his side of the car while Seonghwa pumped gas. He looked at the taller with round eyes, leaning his side on the trunk of the car. 

“Are you okay?” Seonghwa asked softly, returning his glance. “You’ve been really… eccentric tonight.”

“I’m fine,” Hongjoong replied, his expression saying otherwise.

Under the lights of the gas station, Seonghwa’s sharp structures gleamed, a soft pink from the heat flushed on his cheeks and the helix of his ears. Hongjoong wondered what it was like to touch his smooth golden skin. 

“You’re looking at me weird,” Seonghwa chuckled. Hongjoong sat up, not releasing his gaze.

“How do I look?” Hongjoong asked, smiling as he fluffed his bright blue hair, skipping back to do a twirl for Seonghwa. 

“You look cool,” Seonghwa nodded, pulling back the nozzle and setting it back in its place.

“That’s it? Cool?” Hongjoong pouted his lips. “Come on, lit kid, give me some bombastic words.”

Seonghwa sighed. “Mesmerizing. You look like you were bestowed upon me from the galaxies, a little weird child of outer space earthians. You look like, like a rock star, ready to take over the world with a cigarette hanging out your mouth, guitar in hand. You look like Kim Hongjoong, an amazing person who knows how to live his life at its fullest.”

“Did you mean all that?”

“Sure.”

Hongjoong came closer. “I wish you didn’t.”

“What do you mean?”

“Can you kiss me and not fall in love?”

Seonghwa chuckled nervously. His grin always made him look just a slight bit uncomfortable. “Did you mean _that_?”

“Of course I do,” Hongjoong said. “All the time you’ve known me, have I ever said something I don’t mean?”

“If I kiss you will you tell me what’s wrong?”

“You have to promise you won’t fall in love with me.”

“Okay fine. I’ll kiss you and not fall in love.”

“You say that like it’s easy.”

“What? That’s not what I mean.”

“Fine.”

“Fine.”

“Kiss me then.”

“Promise me you’ll tell me what’s wrong if I kiss you first.”

Hongjoong shrugged. “You’re gonna have to kiss me to find out.”

Seonghwa stretched the corner of his lips. He looked around, then leaned down, briefly touched his lips with Hongjoong’s. 

“What was that?”

“A kiss.”

“No that was like, a father pecking his daughter goodbye. _This_ is a kiss.”

Hongjoong grabbed Seonghwa by his jaw with both his hands, pulling him down to land his own soft lips on the others, nursing Seonghwa’s lower lip between his. He touched Seonghwa with his tongue, making the other reach out with his own before their lips separate. Their breaths fell onto each other’s mouths and their eyes linked for just a second before Hongjoong let go of the taller, their hearts beating in their chest. 

“You taste funny,” Hongjoong told, his eyes looking straight into Seonghwa’s. Without further explanation he turned around and walked back to the passenger’s seat. From inside the old car he shouted at the other. “Come on! We’re wasting the night!”

“You’re infuriating,” Seonghwa groaned as he sat in the driver’s seat. They drove for an hour, talking about Hongjoong’s songs as they blasted through the speakers and not mentioning the kiss, letting the freeway in front of them guide them to their destination. Hongjoong had dozed off by the time they arrived at the lake, the loud air conditioning blowing cool air on his greased face. Seonghwa drove on the coarse sand, parking right by the edge before the bricks that ledged the soil into place. He glanced over at the other, his gaze soft. He reached for Hongjoong's sweater in the back seat, then nudged him awake.

“We’re here.” Seonghwa offered the sweater to Hongjoong, who was blinking his sleep away, his lips pouting slightly.

“It’s still dark,” Hongjoong mumbled.

“Yea, sorry, I sped a little after you fell asleep. Hope you don’t mind.” Seonghwa took his last sip of coffee.

“Well we’re alive so no, I don’t mind,” Hongjoong smiled, unbuckling his seatbelt and putting on his sweater. “Okay okay, I’ll change the music, you don’t have to tell me.”

“Actually let’s switch off the radio for a bit,” Seonghwa said. “I kinda wanna be in the moment.”

“Aha, seizing the moment, you’ve learned from the best,” Hongjoong grinned, removing the aux cord from his phone. 

“I can be sentimental too, you know,” Seonghwa rolled his eyes. They kept quiet for a bit, watching the sky saturating slowly. “You wanna sit on the car roof?”

It was the first time Seonghwa had climbed his own car; or any car, for that matter. He’d only seen it in movies, but doing it himself made him feel like a protagonist. He stretched out his arm to help Hongjoong up after him, but let go once Hongjoong managed, balancing himself on the hood for a second before sitting on the roof. Hongjoong was definitely a protagonist, with his protagonist hair and personality that was constantly unphased of anything going about him, as long as he’s able to do what he wants to do. Was Seonghwa a protagonist too? He’d like to be one, like those he’s read about in his books. Brave and unnerving. It didn’t sound much like Seonghwa, but he still hoped that he was at least the protagonist of his own life.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Hongjoong asked without glancing over at the other. He kept his eyes on the horizon, waiting for the sun to make its appearance.

“I’m not looking at you like anything.” Seonghwa waited for a bit before looking away.

“Park Seonghwa, I told you not to fall in love with me.”

“Oh so we _are_ talking about it.”

“You better not have liked it.”

“My point is, you have to keep your part of the promise, which is telling me what’s been bugging you. Why you’re being so weird.”

“But see, that’s the problem. The deal was that I’d tell you if _you_ kissed _me_ . But instead _I_ was the one who kissed _you_ , so I don’t think it counts.”

“Did I tell you you’re infuriating?”

Hongjoong smirked, keeping quiet as a yellow tint crept through the brightening sky. He turned slightly to look at Seonghwa, the yellow light casting shadows on his features. He turned back to the horizon and watched as the sun made its appearance, far and small, but burning so brightly it stung Hongjoong’s eyes. Yet he couldn’t look away; the exchanging of the sky elegant and taking its time, slowly, as if the entire world waited for it, and now the sun is making its grand entrance, announcing its arrival like royalty, taking over the night, nudging it away gently. The night never fights to be in its place in the sky, it only lets the sun take over, or lets the sun rest, and takes control only in the sun’s place. Night didn’t have power. But Hongjoong was so in love with it that the sun upset him. Today, it was a new day. The night had passed, time had gone and yesterday had left them. What a waste, Hongjoong thought, to have such a short night, why can’t the sun rest a little bit more? Why can’t a night last forever? Can time stop, just to let Hongjoong have his night, long and unworrying of what’s to come when the sun appears, when the people wake, and the responsibilities that come in its weight of bricks drag Hongjoong along through time?

“I hate summer,” Hongjoong announced.

“Why so?”

“Because the days are so long, the nights so short. I want it to be winter all year long.”

“But in the winter the skies are grey and gloomy all the time.”

“Santa Claus only comes during the winter. No saint comes during the summer. Winter holds some sort of magic, or something.”

“Is that why you’re so bothered lately?”

Hongjoong clapped his hands together. “I have an idea!”

“What?

“Let’s go get a hedgehog!”

They were woken up from their sleep by the sounds of stores opening, the sunlight forcing its way through their lids, trolley wheels rattling on the uneven tar around them. They had parked right in front of a pet store that they had found through a web search, smack in the middle of a shopping complex thirty minutes away from their apartment. They rolled the car windows down as they arrived near the end of dawn before deciding to take a nap. Seonghwa blinked a few times before reaching out to nudge Hongjoong awake when he realized that the pet store had opened. Hongjoong put on his sweater and they walked out of the car wearily, legs cramped. But as soon as Hongjoong passed through the automatic doors, his steps were light, finding a nearby staff to ask about adopting processes. He talked to the staff in smiles, not bothering about his tousled hair at the back of his head, skin smelling of post-sleep sweat. The staff brought Hongjoong over to one corner of the store, and Hongjoong glanced over to Seonghwa who was still standing warily by the entrance. He waved a hand, gesturing the taller to follow him. Seonghwa abided, steps long and slow. They passed aisles of chirping birds and sleepy hamsters and reptiles before reaching the back of the store where a glass box in the wall kept half a dozen resting hedgehogs, fallen victim to the sunlight, tired from the night’s adventures. Hongjoong’s face brightened at the sight, an excited smile playing on his face as he turned to Seonghwa with a little gasp before coming closer to the glass cage to see the little critters. A soft smile lingered on Seonghwa’s mouth as he stood next to Hongjoong to see what he was looking at.

“Which one do you think?” Hongjoong asked.

“How bout the sleeping one?”

“I’m serious.”

“What type of personality would you like the hedgehog to have?” the staff asked.

“Playful!”

“Quiet.”

The two looked at each other in surprise after answering simultaneously. Hongjoong rolled his eyes at Seonghwa while Seonghwa chuckled. 

“It’s _my_ hedgehog, not yours,” Hongjoong whined.

“Oh we’ll see. Where are you planning to keep it?”

Hongjoong thought about it. “Well my room’s pretty small so it’s probably gonna stay in the living room.”

“Okay. Have you ever vacuumed the living room before?”

“No, but-”

“So since I’ll probably be the one to clean after it then it’s gonna be mine.”

Hongjoong puffed his cheeks. “But it was my idea...”

“Okay fine, we share. But I get to name it.”

“You’re terrible at names!”

The taller sighed. “I guess we’re not getting a hedgehog.”

“Oh my god! Okay, take it! The name’s yours! But I choose which one.”

“I really don’t understand how any of this is fair.”

Hongjoong turned to the staff. “We’d like a playful, fun, friendly, hedgehog!”

The staff introduced them to a small critter, its spikes barely long enough to hurt when she picked it up, placing it on its feet in Hongjoong’s palms while explaining the things to take note when taking care of a hedgehog, and what sets they can offer them as a first time owner. Hongjoong’s eyebrows fell into an arch, his eyes wide, his lips pulled into a pout as he whispered an aw. He looked up at Seonghwa while showing the small thing as it stepped from side to side in confusion, its small black eyes blinking sleepily. Seonghwa just smiled back, letting Hongjoong enjoy this moment. 

“You can hold it like this too,” the staff offered, scooping up the critter in one hand and letting it sit on its back, its little feet up in the air and its pink belly showing. The staff placed the hedgehog back in Hongjoong’s cupped hands. He smiled widely when the hedgehog didn’t seem to be bothered. 

“Hwa, take a picture, quick!” Seonghwa reacted in a reflex, pulling his phone out of his back pocket and taking a picture of the clueless hedgehog in Hongjoong’s palms. He had taken a few shots before the hedgehog rolled and fell out of Hongjoong’s hands. The staff swiftly came to catch it before it could run anywhere. 

“They’re pretty fast, so try to not let it out too often,” she smiled. Hongjoong watched as she put the hedgehog back into its glass cage. “Would you like to adopt Sir Spikey?”

“Okay, you better come up with something better than that,” Hongjoong warned Seonghwa. Seonghwa looked up in thought. 

“How about Lemony?”

“Like the fruit?”

“No, the car.”

“You’re being sarcastic right? I’m not too good with cars.”

“Like Lemony Snicket. But... cuter. Do you like it?”

“It’s okay.” Hongjoong stated nonchalantly. He turned to the staff with a smile. “Yes, we’ll adopt it!”

The drive home, Hongjoong didn’t put on any music, but instead just hummed to himself, a smile lingering. He didn’t want to keep the hedgehog in the animal carrier in the back seat awake. They had kept the window down, wanting some morning air to breeze through their matted hair, but as soon as they reached the freeway, the noise of friction between their tyres and the road below grew too loud, and the wind grew too strong, so they rolled it back up and switched on the air conditioning.

“You don’t have any plans today?” Seonghwa asked the other.

“Not really. Don’t feel like going to the studio. Maybe I’ll just set up Lemony’s playpen and go to sleep for the rest of the day.”

“Did something happen at the studio?”

“Why are you still insisting that something happened?”

“Because you haven’t denied it.”

“Nothing _happened_ ,” Hongjoong said. “Not like anything serious, that is.”

They kept quiet for a moment.

“Seonghwa, do you believe that a song needs to tell a story to be good?”

“A song that can tell a story can be good, but no, it doesn’t _need_ it to be good.”

Hongjoong bit his index nail. “My advanced comp professor said my music lacks direction.”

Seonghwa chuckled lightly. “That sounds like you.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“It’s fun,” Seonghwa sighed. “But I guess in the end we all want to know where we’re heading.”

“But isn’t that life? We _don’t_ know where we’re heading.”

“A little guidance helps,” Seonghwa smiled at Hongjoong. Hongjoong kept his eyes on the road in front of them. 

“I like experimenting,” Hongjoong started, holding back a breath before finally exhaling a sigh. “But I guess part of experimenting is doing something I’ve never done. Which is, making a conclusive piece.”

“That’s the spirit!”

Hongjoong thought of the notes, the synths, the presets in his Macbook back in his room. He arranged them in his head, then pulled out his phone, typing in notes to make sure he won’t forget. Their apartment was just off of the freeway, and Hongjoong sighed of relief when they finally arrived. 

“Hey Hongjoong, can I ask you something?” Seonghwa asked softly before the other could leap out of the car.

“What’s up?”

Seonghwa paused for a second. He didn’t really know what to ask, but deep inside he knew that once they leave the car, their little adventure would never be talked about again, and he didn’t like the feeling of unending. He was very much unlike Hongjoong, who didn’t mind leaving things as is, unanswered and mysterious. _Maybe that’s why he’s a protagonist,_ Seonghwa thought to himself.

“People aren't either wicked or noble. They're like chef's salads, with good things and bad things chopped and mixed together in a vinaigrette of confusion and conflict.” Seonghwa paused. “Lemony Snicket. The Grim Grotto.”

“You’re saying our hedgehog said that?” Hongjoong smirked. Seonghwa couldn't help but grin back.

“I’m saying I won’t hold it against you for making me like that kiss, even if you didn’t mean anything by it.”

Hongjoong paused, looking down at the cup holder between him and Seonghwa. He raised the empty bottle of coffee. “Salted caramel? So that’s why you tasted weird.”

“You don’t like salted caramel?”

Hongjoong shrugged, trying not to look as giddy as he actually was about this confrontation, holding back a small smile.

“Maybe I like it a bit better now.”

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading, if you enjoyed it do leave a kudos and a comment, love you!


End file.
